Switched
by storynerd
Summary: Naruto switches positions with the clone of the family that had the ability to steal faces to experience freedom and create a name for all to fear.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Naruto.**

**Yay!! Another story!! I actually came up with this plot in the middle of watching the episode. "How cool would it be if Naruto kept the clone as his substitute and left the village?" was what I thought. After a dream of this story that night, I woke up and I had this urge to write it down. Read and PLEASE review. Reviews help me remember to update. Thanks in advance!!**

* * *

"Hey wait you!" Naruto yelled, waving wildly.

The Naruto-clone looked back and turned to looked at Naruto. His face broke into a grin as he waited for Naruto to catch his breath.

"I have something to ask you." Naruto said, hesitantly.

The Naruto-clone looked curious. "What's the matter?"

Naruto looked around. Kiba and Hinata were taking their time saying good-byes to their respective clones while Tsunade was discussing matters with Agari, the maker of the clones. After sensing no one else around, he turned to look at his clone.

"What did you need to ask me?" the clone asked again, growing even more curious after watching Naruto's actions.

"Hey do you want to stay in Konoha?" Naruto asked, hesitantly.

The clone's eyes widened in surprise "Why?"

"Well, do you?" Naruto asked and unconsciously leaned in, his eyes expectant.

The clone hesitantly nodded.

"How 'bout we make a deal? You stay in Konoha and pretend to be me and I'll find a way to keep you alive longer." Naruto continued.

The clone's face split into a grin. "Sure! But Agari will be leaving with us soon. If he doesn't see me, there'll be trouble."

"No problem! I'll pretend to be you and go with them to find a way to keep you alive longer. How soon will you revert to your old form?" Naruto asked.

"We can stay like this as long as there's chakra provided for us. The amount of time depends on how much chakra is provided for us." The clone informed Naruto.

"Alright! I'll provide you with my chakra but I'm not sure if it'll be enough for the trip. How far is Agari's house?"

The clone of Naruto looked nervous. "About one and a half weeks away by walking."

"One and a half weeks huh?"

"I don't know about this…" the clone trailed off. His eyes darted around the surrounding nervously.

"Don't worry! Everything'll be fine." Naruto reassured him.

"Come on! We're leaving!" Agari called.

"Come on. Give me your hands."

The clone placed his hands palm down on top of Naruto's own hands. His body tingled with hunger as Naruto began transferring some chakra into the clone.

"Is that enough?" Naruto asked, opening his eyes again.

The clone blinked and smiled widely. "More that enough. Definitely enough for at least two weeks under normal circumstances."

Naruto's smile stretched wider. "Well then, I'll see you in a week!"

"Come on! It's time to go!" Agari yelled.

Naruto smiled at the clone one more time before running to where the other two clones were standing.

The clone followed Naruto and stood next to Hinata, Kiba, and Tsunade as he waved good-bye to Naruto.

The clone's smile widened. He was finally free to experience life as an ordinary human.

* * *

Naruto walked as quietly as he could without uttering a sound.

The air around the group was silent and Naruto didn't dare try to break it.

Agari walked quickly in front of the group. Naruto guessed that he was expecting the clones behind him to disappear any minute.

They had departed from Konoha two days ago and planned to enter to Agari's village a couple of days later. Not soon enough by Naruto's standards.

As Naruto looked at the clones at his sides, he had to remind himself that these clones were not the real Kiba and Hinata.

The clone of Kiba wavered like a ripple on water before settling still again.

Naruto quickly averted his eyes. His stomach suddenly felt queasy.

The clone of Hinata, on the other hand, didn't waver. She merely looked extremely pale. The outline of her pupil had disappeared, leaving only a white colored eyeball in each eye socket.

Naruto quickly turned away. His lunch refused to stay down.

_These are not the real Hinata and Kiba. They aren't real. _Naruto quickly reassured himself.

Naruto looked up just in time to see Agari sneak a peek at him. Agari's eyebrows were furrowed in suspicion.

Naruto suddenly understood why. He, himself, looked perfect, never wavering or changing color.

This must have been suspicious to Agari since he should have been changing from lack of chakra.

Naruto berated his brain for forgetting the fact.

_What am I going to do?_ Naruto thought frantically. Suddenly he had an idea. He quickly made sure that Agari and the clones weren't looking before casting a genjutsu on himself.

Agari turned around at that exact moment.

Naruto almost gasped, afraid that Agari had seen through his trick.

A second later, Agari turned back around and quickened his pace.

Naruto let out a silent sigh of relief and followed the clones onward.

* * *

"Dead-last, come on. Let's go." Kiba shouted.

The clone of Naruto took another look at the gate of Konoha before running after Kiba.

Naruto's clone, as to not confuse himself with the real Naruto, called himself Naru.

Two days had already passed from when Naru had watched the real Naruto leave. Although Naru desperately wanted to believe in Naruto, he was aware that there wasn't a big chance that Naruto could come back or would come back at all.

Naru looked down at himself. He was still solid. His features and skin colored stayed a vibrant tan color. This was all thanks to Naruto.

"Stop daydreaming and come on! We're going to be late." Kiba shouted again.

Naru quickly quickened his pace and raced to catch up with Kiba. As he caught up, Kiba turned and smirked at him.

"Race you to the tower." Kiba yelled, racing off already.

Naru grinned. "Forget it Kiba. I'll beat you."

Thankfully, none of Naruto's friends had found him out. He put on a burst of speed and zoomed past Kiba.

Too bad Naru didn't see Kiba falter when he said his name.

* * *

Kiba's eyebrows furrowed.

_Did Naruto just called me Kiba?_ Kiba thought.

Calling each other by name wasn't much to be suspicious about, but for Kiba and Naruto's competitive relationship, they were used to calling each other by 'dog-breath' or 'dead-last'. That had been what kept them so close. Their rash actions, loud nature, and kind personality had drawn them from being mere classmates to best friends.

Kiba had never heard Naruto call him by anything else except 'dog-breath' much less calling him by name.

Kiba stood there, staring after the racing Naruto.

He quickly shook his head.

_Maybe Naruto just called me that because he was in a rush to be first to the tower. Yes, that must be it._ Kiba reassured himself.

But if that was it, then it gives even more reason for Naruto to call him 'dog-breath'. If it was reflex, the first name out of Naruto's mouth usually was 'dog-breath'. Kiba stared at the rising dust cloud in suspicion.

"The last one there is a rotten shinobi!"

Kiba automatically growled at the comment. He quickly pushed the suspicion to the back of his mind and raced off after Naruto.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto looked around nervously. The day before, the Hinata-clone had poof-ed out of existence. Naruto had jumped in shock at the sudden noise though the Kiba-clone and Agari-san had acted like nothing happened and continued walking.

The last two days had forced Naruto to be on his guard for the entire 24 hours to avoid suspicion.

The continuous use of a genjutsu was starting to take a toll on Naruto's body. With his insufficient training in genjutsu, Naruto knew he was using too much chakra for the genjutsu.

The genjutsu surrounding Naruto fluxed before settling back into place. Agari snapped his head around to stare at Naruto in suspicion.

Naruto sucked in a deep breath and poured more of his depleting chakra into the genjutsu.

Agari stared at Naruto for a few more seconds before turning back around to stare at the road. Naruto silently breathed out a sigh of relief and strengthened his genjutsu even more.

He had to hold out until they arrived at Agari's clan house. He had to find out how to prolong a clone's existence. He had to…for Naru's sake and his own.

* * *

"Remember when you first made up the Sexy no Jutsu? That was hilarious!" Kiba burst out laughing. He slapped Naruto in the back and doubled over in tears.

"It wasn't funny Kiba!" Ino screamed. Her face had turned a deep red as the memory replayed itself in her mind.

Shikamaru sighed, tiredly, and placed his head on top of his folded arms on the table.

"Come on Naruto-niisan! Do it!" Konohamaru shouted excitedly.

Naru looked around with a nervous smile. Kiba and Konohamaru were staring at him with excited faces and Ino glared at him, daring him to do the jutsu in front of her.

Naru was hyperventilating, a stubborn smile still pasted on his face.

_What am I going to do? _Naru thought worriedly.

He had no knowledge of how to do a Sexy no Jutsu. He didn't even know what a Sexy no Jutsu was! And after feeling the intensity of Ino's glare, he wasn't planning on performing the jutsu even if he did know.

I pumped my fist, anticipating Naruto's loud voice screaming, "Sexy no Jutsu", the sudden poof of smoke and, of course, Ino's angry scream before pummeling Naruto.

But none of these happened like I expected they would.

I quieted down when I noticed Naruto's smile fade and was replaced by a rather fake smile. His face started to turn red and he kept glancing down at his hands. Naruto didn't utter a sound. He actually looked…embarrassed.

And that's when I realized it.

Naruto hadn't even touched his bowl of ramen, his first bowl of ramen.

I looked back at the Naruto sitting in front of me. Something was off but I couldn't place my finger on it.

I leaned forward, closer to Naruto.

"Kiba, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, leaning back, and stared at me like I was crazy.

I examined Naruto's face. Nothing was different. There were the usually clear light blue eyes, whisker marks, almost invisible blonde eyebrows, and the shocking brightness of his blonde hair. Nothing was different or out of place but what was this feeling that something was…different, not right?

I felt a sharp pull on my collar from my back.

I spun around angrily and came face-to-face with a curious Ino.

"Kiba-baka, what were you doing so close Naruto? Were you going to kiss him?" Ino quickly leaned back. "Oh this is so exciting! Maybe it's…forbidden love!" Sakura gasped, her cheeks turning pink.

"Is that true Kiba-kun?" came the timid voice of Hinata.

I spun around, feeling my face burn up. "No, Hinata, it's not that. It's-."

"Um, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow!" Naruto interrupted and jumped off the tall stool.

I watched Naruto slip away, silent, and not even turning back to wave.

There was definitely something wrong.

"There's definitely something wrong…" Ino trailed off.

"You think so too?" I questioned and spun around to face her.

"Naruto's different today but it's only in personality though. He still looks the same though." Sakura replied. Hinata supported her with a brief nod.

"That's what I was thinking." Shikamaru added. "Normally, Naruto would have begun on his sixth bowl of ramen except today, he hasn't even finished his first."

"Screw not finishing it. He hasn't even touched it!" I pointed out.

"Naruto-niisan's been…different since last week. I've seen him at the gates a lot of times." Konohamaru told us.

"Gates? What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"He's just been sitting there, staring into the forest. Like he's expecting something."

The group descended into silence.

"What in the world could he be waiting for?" I muttered.

* * *

Naru sighed in relief as the Ichiraku stand disappeared from view.

Although he enjoyed hanging out with Naruto's friends, he was constantly reminded that they were not his friends. Even if he wanted to become their friend, he would have to pretend to be Naruto in order to avoid suspicion and jeopardize the entire mission.

Naru sighed at the complication. "Naruto, where are you?"

* * *

Naruto sneezed, momentarily waking up Agari. He held his breath and waited for Agari to return to sleep.

Naruto could feel the exhaustion in his pores. He longed to lie down, dispel the genjutsu and sleep as long as he could.

The loud yawning of Agari popped Naruto out of his little dream bubble and reminded him of what was at stake. Naruto renewed his genjutsu before appearing at Agari's side. The Kiba-clone also appeared and the group continued their journey.

"Agari-sama, when are we reaching the compound?"

Naruto's head snapped to the Kiba-clone. After so many days of silence, he wasn't used to hearing the Kiba-clone speak.

"We'll reach there around mid-day." Agari replied to the Kiba-clone's question.

Naruto's face split into a large grin.

_Mid-day huh? Finally…_


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto perched in the corner, hidden by 2 layers of genjutsus.

A day ago, the travelers had arrived the compound. Agari had left the clone and Naruto behind and continued to the clan office. As soon as Agari was out of sight and the Kiba clone wasn't looking, Naruto had created a Kage Bunshin to take his place while he searched the compound for a scroll dictating how to preserve a clone.

Naruto's clone had wandered off for now. Judging by the amount of chakra he had placed in the Kage Bunshin, Naruto knew it couldn't live much longer. But that way, no one would be suspicious.

Naruto slid through the door and peered around to see if the room was occupied. He gulped. By accident, he had slipped into the crowded kitchen. It was filled with chefs and servants busy with the lunch rush.

Naruto was involuntarily drawn to the dish of turkey and mash potatoes side dish unguarded on a side table. He felt his mouth water as he reached out. Before he could grasp a piece of meat, a servant whisked it away.

"No…" Naruto groaned and longingly reached out.

A close-by chef lifted her head and looked in Naruto's direction. Naruto noticed and strengthened his genjutsu to make sure he wouldn't be revealed. He held his breath as the chef looked around and returned to her work. Naruto silently let out his breath and quickly slid out of the room.

Once outside in the large foyer again, he checked a small side room and, after making sure there were no occupants, slipped inside and shed his genjutsu. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and checked his chakra reserve. Since he replenished his reserve with a night's rest the night before, he had enough for the rest of the day.

But the amount of chakra wasn't the only thing he was worried about. His mission was still unfinished. He still had to find a way to preserve his clone back in Konoha.

Naruto leaned his back against the wall and slid to the base. "Let's see, I already checked the east wing and the north wing. The south wing doesn't have it so all that's left is the west wing and the clan office and library." Naruto listed. He sighed. "Why is the compound so big?!"

The door creaked, as it swung open. Naruto silently gasped and threw up a messy genjutsu.

"You don't have to hide. I know you're there." Said the little boy standing at the doorway. The young boy looked none older than 6 but his eyes spoke of a maturity beyond his age.

Naruto cringed but waited nonetheless, hoping that the boy was just stabbing in the dark.

"I'm not making a mistake, nor am I playing. I saw you. You don't have to hide anymore." The little boy gently closed the door and locked it. He walked over to the window and pulled down the blinds. "My name is Ryo. What's yours?" Ryo walked towards where Naruto was and sat down beside him.

Naruto sighed and cancelled his genjutsu. "How did you know I was here?"

"I followed you." Ryo simply said.

Naruto was silent, waiting for Ryo to elaborate. When the silence lengthened, Naruto realized that Ryo wasn't planning on including for details. "When? And how?"

"I noticed your chakra signature this morning when you sneaked into the north wing. I wasn't sure but I saw you when you cancelled your genjutsu to rest."

Naruto frowned. "North wing? Your family lives in the north wing?"

"I don't have a family." Ryo confessed. "That's one reason."

"And the other?" Naruto prompted.

Ryo smirked. "You're awfully nosy."

Naruto blushed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to-."

"The other reason…" Ryo interrupted. "…is because my bloodline is mutated. It's a threat to the entire clan."

Naruto stayed silent.

"The clan's ability is to create real clones that act, look, touch, smell, and sound like the real person. The clone does not poof out of existence after a single hit if enough chakra is inputted and the clone is under complete control of the master who created it. But mine's different."

Naruto waited but after a long moment of silence, he realized that Ryo wasn't going to continue. "You're not going to tell me what you can do, are you?"

Ryo looked up at Naruto with a mischievous smile. "The Elders always said to never talk to strangers."

Naruto sighed and smiled warmly at Ryo. "You're an evil kid you know that? To lead me on with a little introduction and leave me guessing right where it was getting good. You are a seriously evil kid."

Ryo simply shrugged and smiled. "So many people say."

"Well I can't stay here forever." Naruto said, standing up again and stretching.

"You're here to steal something aren't you?"

Naruto looked down at Ryo. "I don't have to answer that."

Ryo stared Naruto in the eye. Naruto gaped. "You have a strange eye color."

"I know." Ryo answered and continued to stare into Naruto's eyes. Naruto felt uncomfortable at the intensity from Ryo's glassy grey-redish eyes.

"You want to know how to preserve a clone created by this clan."

Naruto's head snapped back.

Ryo smiled. "Am I wrong?" He sighed. "I'll show you but for a price."

Naruto frowned. "First let me hear it."

"You have to take me with you on your journey."

Naruto smirked. "And why should I take a six year old kid like you? You probably can't even defend yourself and would just get in my way."

"Actually I'm eight years old already. And I've watched the older kids practice. I've learnt all of their jutsus. I've visited the clan library and-."

"Woah woah slow down." Naruto brought up his hands. "Give me a reason why I should trust an eight years old kid to learn to defend himself against A rank missing-nins that roam the world. You'll just end up burdening me."

"You wanted the preserve a clone created by this clan right? Then you need me. And if I can't fend for myself, you'll be free to leave me and continue your journey alone."

Naruto scoffed. "You think I'll just leave a kid like you out there alone?"

"This clan has taught me a lot of stuff. I can fight." Ryo looked up at Naruto. "Plus, you forget the fact that I still have my bloodline."

Naruto was puzzled. "Wait, why do you always say 'this clan' instead of 'my clan'?"

Ryo looked down. His gray haired bangs hung low enough to cover his eyes. "Because this has never been 'my clan'. Feelings of protection, belonging, and love are associated with a clan. I've…never felt those things."

Naruto softened.

_No wonder I felt a sense of déjà vu when I saw this boy._

Naruto stretched and groaned. "Fine fine."

Ryo looked up, his eyes as wide as saucers."

"I'll let you join me but you have to pull your own weight."

Ryo jumped up. A wide smile lit up his face. Naruto realized that that was the first time he had seen the boy's real smile.

"But!" Naruto held up one finger. "You have to do your side of the deal first."

Ryo nodded, still smiling.

Naruto couldn't help but smile also. "Ok, we're leaving tonight. Pack your stuff, get the scroll, and meet me in here at 10."

Before Naruto had finished, Ryo had already skipped past the door.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!!**


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